Day 4

Day 4 had been a long day, with our final day in Moscow and the dreaded train journey.

We began our day at the armoury museum at the kremlin, looking at all weapons, dresses worn by tsarinas, and the crowns of all the tsars. It was incredible to see such wealth in the museum.

Afterwards we visited the kremlin and visited all the variety of churches, dating back from the 15th century. All contained amazing frescos and icons, plated in gold.

Since its pancake week in Russia, for lunch many of us ate pancakes, covered in Nutella, sugar and strawberries.

Then we got to the visit the church of Christ the Saviour, and looked out upon the panoramic view of Moscow, over the frozen river, St basil's cathedral and Stalin's skyscrapers.

To prepare ourselves for the dreaded train, we got free time and got to go bowling, with became very competitive, yet everyone had a great time.

We boarded the coach and travelled to the station, and got onto the train to St Petersburg. The cabins were not as bad as expected, they were relatively spacious, and meant that people could actually get some sleep.

After the 8 hour journey, we finally arrived in St Petersburg to a crisp blue sky.

We are all looking forward to spending our last few days in St Petersburg!

Daisy :)

Tuesday (edited)

First of all, apologies that there was no blog yesterday. This was due to the fact we were piled onto the overnight train and could not write it! 

Anyhow, our arrival in St Petersburg was heralded by a glorious sunrise, whose beams burst into our train cabins on the early morning. We later left train station to meet our new guide, Oleyssa. She led the tired tumult of students on a trip round a few key areas of the city, emphasising the geography and symetery in architecture. A few stops made were the Tauride Palace (which was home to the Dumas and later the Provisional Government and Petrigrad Soviet after the abdication of the Tsar), the Cathedral of Spilled Blood (which marked the point on which Tsar Alexander III was assassinated), and a few of the beautiful frozen rivers crisscrossing the city.

We stopped for lunch across Nevsky Prospect, which a couple of comrades used to visit the 'Best doughnut bakery in the world'.

After a secondary short walk around St Petersburg, visiting places such as the Smolny Institute, we were relieved to finally get to the hotel. Dinner was followed by another expedition into the city, to truly appreciate the buildings at night. Most notable was The Winter Palace, where Mrs Harris told us the tragic and thought-provoking story of Bloody Sunday.

We also visited the Kazan Cathederal which Dr Coke-Woods graphically depicted the events if the July Days of 1917, and a few various spots of historic note.

Now, we are back in our beds, and VERY ready to sleep. Goodnight! 

-Shem Jacobs

Day 3

First thing today was the Contemporary History Museum, which from as far as Alexander II's reign to Late-Stalin USSR. Though tired, we found the exhibits very interesting, especially due to the commentary from Natasha - who was particularly useful due to all there being no English translation for any documents.

Next was the Art museum, where we admired paintings and sculptures from the 20th century.

It was fascinating to see the development of the Supremecist and Contructionist styles from Cubism and similar abstract movements. My personal favourite was 'phenomena', which was so massive, detailed and supernatural.

Final activity for the day was the much-anticipated Ice Hockey! 

It was incredible, the atmosphere was brilliant and the plays were awesome. Right behind us were a group of Russian Soldiers chanting which only made things more heated! Unfortunately, there were only two proper fights, and the team that most of us were supporting, CSKA, lost.

However, it was still an amazing experience and I'll be looking out keenly for any Ice Hockey matches closer to home!

After dinner we've had some free time to relax. Awesome day, enjoyed by all! See you soon...

-Shem Jacobs

Day 2

Hii,
The first proper day in Russia has been a long day, as expected. Beginning with thankfully, a lay in till 7:45 and relaxed breakfast, with consisted of trying to work out what food is which; we set off for the coach tour of russia.

We once again visited the red square and the gum department store, which were still amazing in day light. As well as going into lenin's mausoleum, where a very waxlike yet preserved Lenin was displayed, it was extremely eerie.

After then visiting the bridge of padlock trees, and the sculptures representing the vices of humans, we then drove to the island in Moscow and had free time for lunch, which was sooo cheap.

After our lunch, we visited a convent, and cemetery where famous Russians were buried including, chekhov and stalins wife. Many of the gravestones were extremely impressive but the temperature dropped and all of us were desperately trying to keep warm, it wasn't very successful.

The tour ended and we graciously hopped onto the warm coach with much happiness and drove to the circus.

We arrived at the new circus for our 5:00 show with much anticipation and were not dissappointed. The acrobats and gymnasts were amazing, and the show featured dyed neon green dogs, 10 cheetahs, 1 massive black bear, and at least 7 horses; which proved interesting to watch...

We headed back to our hotel, via a " photo opportunity" stop off, which just descended into chaos, with everyone sliding down the icy slopes and trying to get back up, and failing. After getting extremely bruised and wet, we went back to our hotel and had our buffet dinner.

Much to our dismay, we went out after dinner for a walk in the Park of Economic Achievement. Which essentially turned into a massive snowball fight, leaving no winners, and no one escaped the wrath of the snow, including all teachers.

We trudged back to the hotel, and went to bed. Day 2 has been a incredible first day in Russia, having done so much and it already feeling like a week has passed. Shoutout to Esther, who unfortunately may not have had the greatest day, as she ended up being pooed on by a bird, and sadly ruining her decorative leggings.

See you tomorrow!
Daisy :)

A few pictures from day two.

After exiting Lenin's Mausoleum

GUM department store

The Seven Human Vices

Love padlock trees

Summer Church in Novedevichy Convent

Circus!

Park of Economic Achievement + lots of fun in the snow!

Full blog coming soon from Daisy!

-Shem

First day

Hi there! 

The first day has been a long and strenuous one, with long waits at the airport and a longer flight, but our patience was rewarded with our first views of Russia - and the promised snow.

After a quick intro to our guide-to-be, Natalia, we wisked off to the Hotel Cosmos. I can only discribe it as massive and full of Russian stereotypes! 

Oh - and it has a great view:

So after a rest and some dinner (which was mostly composed of chips for many of us), we went to explore the first few tidbits of history in the trip. In the Red Square, the focus was predominantly shared between St Basil's Cathederal,

and the imposing wall of the Kremlin.

However, as we walked up, down, around and slightly outside the square we briefly visited many places of interest -  Mr Dickens revealing the significance and stories behind each.

Finally, after a little free time and a trip for bottled water, we got back to the hotel, and our day ended. Despite its slow start it's been a great first day, and we're all really excited for tomorrow!

Shem Jacobs

Russia soon...

So Russia is only one week away... I speak for all the students when I say we're very excited. Daisy Aylott and I will be blogging throughout the trip, keeping you up to date with the experiences your children are going through - so keep checking every day we're away!

Some useful things you will want to consider before the 13th:

Try and find the best currency conversion rates online, and get your roubles before we're in Russia so that your kids are free to spend from the plane's landing.

Keep checking the weather predictions for the region.

Make sure you have the itinerary nearby, as that will highlight the detail and history behind the events/places Daisy and I will cover In this blog.

See you on the 13th!

Shem Jacobs